While diving and high operatic theatrics aren’t as ubiquitous in international soccer as the casual American sports fan believes, the shenanigans in the recent Champions League tie between Real Madrid and Barcelona were widely reported and more than a little embarrassing. This tends not to be an American problem (there’s a lot more flopping in college and pro hoops than in soccer in the US), but it seems worth noting, if only for context.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jim Tressel, who guided Ohio State to its first national title in 34 years, resigned Monday amid NCAA violations from a tattoo-parlor scandal that sullied the image of one of the country’s top football programs.

“After meeting with university officials, we agreed that it is in the best interest of Ohio State that I resign as head football coach,” Tressel said in a statement released by the university.

Tressel and school administrators have been wriggling and squirming for months now, clearly hoping that a variety of self-imposed half-measures would ward off NCAA investigators and overly interested reporters. Still, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before Tressel was forced out. Today was that time. The decision may have been forced by a looming Sports Ilustrated feature, due to drop as early as this this evening, which is expected to throw even more gasoline on the flames.

I suppose none of us are surprised, either by the Ohio State case or by the general level of dishonesty in all forms of competition. Our culture valorizes winning above all else. While this is probably true of all cultures, I wonder if we’re not worse than most when it comes to our contempt for the loser. What’s most disturbing is the pervasive “first is first and second is last” mentality that seems to drive us. Technically the word “loser” can be applied to everything from the guy who finished second by a thousandth of a second (posting a time that was better than the old world record) to a child abusing meth addict, but some days it feels like we don’t distinguish much at all. Maybe I’m being too sensitive, but as I noted in a recent post, a lot of people seem to regard the Buffalo Bills, who lost four straight Super Bowls, as the biggest losers in American sports history. Odd, because they dominated the hell out of the rest of the AFC during that period, which suggests to me that it was all those other teams who were the losers. But what do I know.

Whatever Happened to Sportsmanship?

I first noticed it during discussions over steroid use and the Hall of Fame in baseball: there are principled, intelligent people who are in favor of letting them all in. Barry “The Asterisk” Bonds. Clemens. Sosa and McGwire. Rafael Palmeiro. Juicers and liars, the lot of them, players whose disrespect for the sanctity of the game knows few rivals. From where I sit, it’s borderline obscene to allow players who approached cheating their opponents with such malice aforethought a spot in Cooperstown. Sure, baseball has been played by every sort of rogue imaginable since its earliest days. I get that. But baseball has also punished those whose crimes called into question the integrity of the outcome (even, in the case of Joe Jackson, when there’s reason to further question just how badly he was actually cheating in the first place).

Why is this principle so obvious to me, I have wondered, when it seems so alien to others?

Maybe it has something to do with how I was raised. Let’s begin by understanding that I’m a little different front others my age. My parents split when I was three and I got handed off to my paternal grandparents. They had been born in 1913 and 1914 and had grown up in a world that was hard even before the Great Depression set in. I learned that for people like this the Depression never really ended (and sometimes I even joke that I grew up during the Depression). It was a no-frills life for them and theirs, and in households where you don’t have a lot, what you do have takes on even greater importance. Especially if you’re Southern Baptist working class descended from Scots-Irish immigrants.

What people like this have, in abundance, is principle. Morals, ethics, pride, integrity, a code, call it whatever you like, but when it came to me and athletics, nothing was more important than sportsmanship. Granddaddy had played ball and he’d played hard. When I talked to those who’d played with him, they said he’d been a very, very good catcher (up until he threw his arm out and had to move to the infield). In another place and time, maybe he’d have been good enough to have played professionally.

But when he talked to me about playing, he never stressed winning. Sure, he wanted to me to win, and he’d work with me on technique and strategy so that I’d be the best player I could be, but win or lose I was going to do it the right way. I was going to shake the other guy’s hand, I was going to comport myself with dignity, I was going to honor the game. If I didn’t, I wasn’t going to play, and I still remember, vividly, two occasions where he sat me down because of my attitude. One of those times he did it in front of all my friends.

As mad as it sometimes made me, the lessons took. I grew up playing the game the right way, win or lose. I was a serious enough competitor that I still remember all the heartbreaking losses. I can remember playing badly, I can remember blowing shots that might have won a game. But I’m proud of the fact that I didn’t cheat. I’d rather lose fair than cheat to win.

Also, I can sleep better, because there’s a part of me that thinks that if I’d cheated my grandfather’s ghost would climb up out of the grave and come after me with his belt.

Emmanuel Kant in the Age of John Stuart Mill Vince Lombardi

In a way it’s the age-old debate over moral philosophy: do the means justify the ends or vice versa? And the truth of our era is this: fair play is for punks, pussies and losers. Few people better typify our ethics than Vince Lombardi, who could have been the reincarnation of John Stuart Mill. Read a collection of Lombardi quotes sometime. He never stops talking about hard work, about preparation, about commitment. But never, ever, are we allowed to think that these values are the thing themselves. One doesn’t do it the right way because it’s the right way. One does it to win, and it seems clear that if you didn’t win then, by definition, you didn’t do it the right way. Winning is the only thing. If it weren’t, why would they keep score.

Despite the focus on hard work, etc., in this world one can only ascertain what the right way was after the fact, and by the way, in a 32-team league there are, by definition, 31 wrong ways to do it.

Am I exaggerating for effect? Maybe a little. Not every coach out there is Bobby “The Brain” Heenan. While the bad actors seem to get all the press, the truth is that there are hundreds of thousands and millions of athletes who care deeply about sportsmanship and about the valuable life lessons we can learn from competition. This is always one of the joys of watching non-revenue college sports, and women’s sports in particular. Who can forget this incredible moment, from a 2008 softball game between Western Oregon and Central Washington, for instance?

With two runners on base and a strike against her, Sara Tucholsky of Western Oregon University uncorked her best swing and did something she had never done, in high school or college. Her first home run cleared the center-field fence.

But it appeared to be the shortest of dreams come true when she missed first base, started back to tag it and collapsed with a knee injury.

She crawled back to first but could do no more. The first-base coach said she would be called out if her teammates tried to help her. Or, the umpire said, a pinch runner could be called in, and the homer would count as a single.

Then, members of the Central Washington University softball team stunned spectators by carrying Tucholsky around the bases Saturday so the three-run homer would count — an act that contributed to their own elimination from the playoffs.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVlKtI7yd_s[/youtube]

I get that the win-at-all-costs mentality tends to thrive in proximity to money. In pro sports, it is about winning. It’s a business, jobs are at stake, your ability to provide for your family (in a business where your career is maybe five years instead of 25) is on the line, and so forth. (Although, a quick side note. I’m sick of hearing LeBron James talk about how he chose to go to Miami because it was the right thing to do for his family. The average American will have to work for nearly 1,162 years to earn as much as The Decision will make in 2011 alone. So with all due respect, Bron, how about chugging a nice tall glass of shut the fuck up juice.)

I just wish we could confine the professional mentality to the professional context. But D-1 colleges are, at this stage, de facto minor league adjuncts to the NFL and NBA. And the corruption is trickling down. Texas is now being forced to conduct steroid testing on high school football players. How long before it’s middle school? With more and more completely unhinged parents grooming Junior for a pro career while he’s in peewees, how long before the term “juice box” comes to connote something far more sinister than it does now?

So it’s goodbye, for now, to Jim Tressel, and here, in all likelihood, begins a several year slog in the wilderness for a program that values winning above all other things. We’ll see in time what kinds of sanctions the NCAA will visit on THE Ohio State University, and we’ll also see if there are broader implications for people like Gordon Gee, whose approach to being a university president has sometimes reminded us more of Vince Lombardi than Robert Maynard Hutchins.

4 Comments

Have a look at MyFiveStarMusic. net I actually find excellent songs and i’m often bringing up-to-date. It is farely new in addition to I am just looking to get the idea started. Booking it. Cheers I favor thinking about all these, nevertheless I know including experiencing online radio stations. All it takes is aside the need to search for new music. Only arranged the idea, as well as let it stay without your knowledge.
louis vuitton delightful http://www.legionpost368.org/louis-vuitton-delightful-mw-4

Very great post. I simply stumbled upon your weblog and wished how to hack facebook id (Carol) mention that I have really loved surfing around your weblog posts.
After all I’ll be subscribing to your rss feed
and I’m hoping you write again soon!

12 AUSTRALIAN STORY ABC 801,000 moncler jacket Patrick鈥檚 dates coincide with the fall of the Roman Empire, when the cloud known as the Dark Ages descended on Europe. People lived under constant threat from barbarians, but Ireland鈥檚 geographical location made her relatively safe. y north face jackets
The Magnolias were celebrating their 22nd ball at the Fairhope Civic Center, under the theme “Shake, Rattle Roll.” Led by raucous Elvis impersonator Shane Tucker, the belle-filled ball groups included Jailhouse Rock, At the Hop, Tuitti Frutti, Let’s Bowl Tonight, Rydell High, Stranded at the Drive-In and Rosie’s Diner. http://www.michaelkors.black This group of women, though most of us have never met, has been a virtual savior for me. We are able to log on at any time, ask questions, share pictures and stories, laugh and cry with each other. We talk about cancer, kids, treatment, side effects, surgeries, outcomes, relationships, medications, fears, family. We celebrate triumphs and we are in tears when there are setbacks.
The Houthis then advanced into Sunni Muslim areas, leading to clashes with local tribes and al-Qaeda and energising a southern separatist movement. north face outlet Cost is $155 for residents and $190 for nonresidents, and all individuals must have a city recreation card to participate. Participants also will be required to pay a $35 registration fee to the American Red Cross for registration and access to Internet class books and materials. u the north face jackets
Un servicio profesional de calefacci贸n y refrigeraci贸n puede evaluar el estado de sus sistemas de aire acondicionado y calefacci贸n, incluso por dentro de los respiraderos y conductos, donde uno no puede ver. La salud de su hogar es importante, y a veces es mejor que lo haga un profesional. insanity workout,insanity workout dvd 聯We need to see more red, white and blue in our city,聰 she said.
c List of 2013 settlements and judgments paid by the State of New Jersey p90x workouts Maybe. burberry bags
. http://www.gucci.nom.co HanesBrands of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, announced that it will expand its manufacturing facility in Clarksville, AR investing about $1.5 million in additional machinery at the facility, relocating and upgrading its packaging and dyeing operations and adding 120 new jobs. http://www.michaelkors.black
IHJlbGVhc2VkIHRvIGZhbWlsaWVzIGFuZCBkaXN0cmljdHMgZm9yIGluc3RydWN0aW9uYWwgcGxh moncler jacket Jury awards exceeding $750,000 for noneconomic damages trigger defense motions to lower the award, which in turn prompt the plaintiffs’ lawyers to challenge the cap. The Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund is a key player in the cases because it pays malpractice awards exceeding $1 million. y burberry outlet online
Camus said even he received a call from one of the scammers at his home on a Saturday. He said he had a stern message for the caller: 鈥淵our day will come.鈥?gucci outlet online That’s my thought on the subject. There are plenty of books out there which explain this mystery of the ages. Many contest it as heresy and others attempt to explain it to the People of the Book.
Whether you choose to observe April Fool’s Day by prank or by pint, have a good laugh and a beer. moncler jacket The number of people starting their own businesses grew during the recession, with a peak in 2009 and 2010. The Kauffman Foundation, a nonprofit that tracks new business creation, found that the rate of new entrepreneurial activity fell in both 2012 and 2013, but that the dip could be 鈥渄ue to improving economic conditions鈥濃€攑eople can get jobs at someone else’s company, so they are less likely to try and start one themselves.聽
2 Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually oriented language. the north face jackets The President of Turkey Abdullah Gul advised German Chancellor Angela Merkel to be more constructive and more cautious while making statement ion any sensitive issue in future.
In 2012, the new children鈥檚 playground opened 鈥?then was the next day. In February, someone hot-wired a construction vehicle and went for a around the construction site, causing over $100,000 in damage. louis vuitton handbags AWG also appointed a new chairman, Queen, who operates multiple Price Chopper stores in the metro area. Queen succeeds , who’s retiring from the position after 11 years. Queen is AWG’s third chairman in the past 38 years. Don Woods Jr. of Woods Supermarkets in Bolivar, Mo., will be vice chairman.
y Stalinism has left an ignominious pantheon, from the famous (Jean Paul Sartre) to the forgotten. Into the latter category falls Santiago Carrillo, the Spanish Communist leader who is now the subject of an exhumation by Paul Preston of the London School of Economics. As the author of 鈥淔ranco鈥?(1993), still the best biography of the caudillo, and 鈥淭he Spanish Holocaust鈥?(2012), a brilliant account of the atrocities in the country鈥檚 mythologized civil war (1936-39), Mr. Preston has a fair claim to being the world鈥檚 leading authority on 20th-century Spain. His new work tells the story of Franco鈥檚 鈥渕ost consistent… http://www.northfacejackets.mobi Review this one again. You know that it is not possible or even desirable to try to plug the so-called breaches or convert the wetlands to the west into a 7-mile long dam. The more flow through there, the better–that was the purpose of the spreader system. You also know that is DEP property and the Cape has no responsibility to maintain it. Putting this condition on the permit, which is not required by the Consent Order or statutes or regs, serves only as an excuse to deny the permit. Please don t do that to our environment.
Tips for Healthy Aging http://www.louisvuittonhandbags.black A Fresh & Easy store on Diablo Road in Danville, Calif., is seen on Tuesday, March 1, 2011. The 12,000-square-foot market is among those that will be closed. i gucci factory outlet
White’s got a quarterback’s personality. Ever since Davis first met him, White’s been singularly focused. burberry outlet Advertisement
i Defense http://www.p90x.black The tough start was a dagger for Arrowhead, which had to play catch-up the rest of the night. d
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language. gucci TRNC President and Greek Cypriot President will meet today to discuss the property issue http://www.louisvuittonhandbags.black
The film — which will debut on Palm Sunday, March 29 — is a testament to the success of O’Reilly’s “Killing” franchise, which has included “Lincoln’s Last Days” and “The Last Days of Jesus.” gucci Oconomowoc Arts Center: OHS IB Art Show, reception, 12:30-1:30 p.m. March 15, 641 E. Forest St., Oconomowoc, (262) 560-3172. y burberry outlet online
Johnston said addiction not only devastates the addict, but supporting family and friends as well. burberry outlet There will also be a boutique and a raffle including a custom dog mansion and cat condominium.
ZG93bnRvd24gPC9wPjxwPlBsdXNxdWVsbGljIGhhcyBwb2ludGVkIHRvIHRoZSBjb25zdHJ1Y3Rp the north face Merkel and Hollande laid the cornerstone for their diplomatic initiative at the end of January in Strasbourg, where they dined together in the restaurant Zuem Ysehuet. They spent over three hours together, over lamb and venison, and spoke about the tradition of German-French friendship, about Ukraine and about new Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Their host at the dinner was European Parliament President Martin Schulz. g north face jackets
Much of Clark’s success came behind senior tackle Aderius Hood, Offensive Lineman of the Week. Hood, an SIAC pre-season all-conference selection, spearheaded an offensive line that helped collect 463 yards of total offense. Hood also led an offensive line that averaged 5.9 yards per play and did not give up a sack. p90x workouts Neither EFX nor Power Balance have sought approval from the Food and Drug Administration for medical use, so they are not allowed to market benefits such as pain relief or treatment of a health condition. But some customers say the wristbands have relieved symptoms from bursitis to nerve pain.